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3500 BCE
Sacrifice?
Animals were cut open to talk with divine forces, and see into the future. Usually the liver and intestines were used. -
44 BCE
Julius Caesar
After Caesar was assassinated, the physician had decided that only one, out of the 23 stab wounds, was fatal. -
Period: Jan 1, 1200 to Dec 31, 1299
Forensic Autopsies
The first FORENSIC autopsies are preformed at University of Bologna. -
Jan 1, 1247
Forensic Science Text-Book
The first text-book on forensic science and other procedures for suspicious deaths to be followed in those case was published in China. -
Jan 1, 1500
"I Guess I Can Allow It"
The Catholic church decided that Autopsies were not terrible and ungodly! -
Rising Action and Climax
The peak of Autopsies were in this era because of Karl Rokitansky, Rudolf Virchow, Richard Clarke Cabot, and many others. -
Period: to
Bodies After Death
Scientists studied the ways bodies decomposed after death through dissections, and gained a better understanding of how the body changed based on the effects of time, environment, and manner of death. -
"Waiter! There's Arsenic in my Soup!"
Valentin Ross discovered a method of detecting Arsenic in the stomach of victims of poisoning. -
Chemical Testing
James Marsh used chemical testing to determine cause of death in a murder trial. -
Just Like a Snowflake
Henry Faulds and William James Herschel publish a paper describing the uniqueness of fingerprints. Francis Galton, a scientist, adapted their findings for the court. Galton's system identified patterns. -
Coroners Act
The Coroners Act ensured that a coroners job was "determine the circumstances and the medical causes of sudden, violent and unnatural deaths." -
Fingerprints
An investigator, Juan Vucetich, was the first to use fingerprinting to prove a convicted murderer. -
Period: to
Autopsy Rates Rise
During the WWII era, autopsy rates rose because many hospitals and medical schools made autopsies a standard. -
BANG! BANG!
Gunshot residue can now be detected through SEM/EDS testing. -
Virtual Autopsies
These are combination of tomography, CT, MR imaging, image guided biopsies, post-mortem angiography, and other software that makes using it in court easier, and there is no desicration of Jewish and Muslim bodies, who are still against autopsies to this day.
